Elk Grove native giving arena football one more try
Elk Grove Village native Russ Michna showed up at Saturday's open tryouts for the Chicago Slaughter arena football team hoping for one more year.
One more year to feel the rush of going out on the field amid thousands of screaming fans.
One more year of getting paid to play a kid's game.
One more year to see how far he can take his football career.
"I'm excited to be part of this organization," Michna, 27, said during open tryouts for the Chicago Slaughter arena league football team. "I hope I can help make this team competitive real quick."
Michna, a former quarterback for the Chicago Rush arena league team, joined about 100 hopefuls trying to make one of the Slaughter's 25 open roster spots for the upcoming season this spring. The team plays at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates.
Many of the players, like 23-year-old Christopher Pisani of Oak Park, are local products with some college experience who wanted a chance to keep playing.
"Once you're out of the game you're out," said Christopher's father, Dominic Pisani, as he watched his son practice from the upper level of the Finish Strong Indoor Sports Arena in West Chicago. Christopher Pisani graduated from Oberlin College, a small Division III school in Ohio, where he played defensive end.
"As a father, you want your son to be successful and to explore every avenue of opportunity until it's exhausted," Dominic Pisani added.
Arney Silvestri, president of the franchise, said that many of the players trying out were old Chicago Rush teammates, such as Michna, who were invited to compete for a roster spot after the Arena Football League announced it would suspend its 2009 season.
Still others, like Jeff Sims and Terry Moore, both of Indianapolis, drove several hours the night before for a chance to step out of the shadows of semipro football.
"It felt really good to come out and play with some competitors again," said Moore, shortly after being among the first round of cuts. "This was still a really great experience."
For more information on the Chicago Slaughter, visit www.chicagoslaughter.com.